WordPress Gutenberg is AWFUL compared to the classic editor

“Anybody who knows HTML/CSS hates the damn thing. They should have incrementally introduced it. Personally, I think it sucks. All the assumed functionality is has been removed.”

And I asked him:

“Compared to the Classic Editor?”

And he responded:

“Yes…I love the concept but the layout and how it works is not intuitive. This, in my opinion, is a fail. I’m sure it’s better. I just hate it.”

I honestly don’t get it.

What can you do in the Classic Editor that you can’t in Gutenberg?

Like, if you just wanna type a blog post like you did in the old editor, you can 100% do that. And, your experience will be almost exactly the same. Adding images is easier, IMO. And, there’s far more options now in Gutenberg for layouts, etc.

No, it’s not perfect.

But, compared to the Classic Editor?

It’s just not even close.

As for the rollout…

Mullenweg was talking about Gutenberg at least as early as the summer of 2017. There’s been a Gutenberg plugin out for almost a year and a half. If this took you by surprise, it’s the slowest-moving “curve ball” you’ll ever see.

So yeah…

Call me crazy, but I don’t get it.

The only way it seems you can call Gutenberg “crap” is if you compare it to other page-builders like Elementor or Divi, etc. Okay… but it’s just NOT one of those things right now. It’s a post editor.

And, in that sense it’s a massive improvement.

But whatever…

You do you.

You’ll be using Gutenberg soon enough.

It always happens.

And, there’s a lesson in that.

People are horrible at “predicting” what technology they’ll use. How many people said the internet was dumb and they’d never use it? Smartphones? Social media? And, how many of those people ARE now using all of those things?

And, so it goes.

If you can predict this stuff, you can get ahead of the curve.

Get an advantage over everyone “swearing” they’ll never use XYZ.

Build products and services.

Out-compete those who get left behind.

Etc.

You just gotta have the guts to assess things for yourself.

And, not always follow the tide of what people “think”.

In any case, if you’re just ready to do that with Gutenberg, dive in and learn this thing and don’t want to learn yet another piece of software on your own, then check out my Beginner’s Guide to WordPress Gutenberg course on SkillShare.

Here’s some early reviews in case you’re wondering if it’s any good:

“John is so well-spoken and his passion for web development definitely peaks through. This class really helps the transition from the classic WP post/page editing to Gutenberg block editing. Thank you John, I feel confident tackling my first project using Gutenberg.”

— Karen Butler

“Excellent course for getting started with WordPress Gutenberg editor.”

— Jane D

“This course is the ‘JIT’! – Just In Time for the release of WordPress 5.0 featuring the new Gutenberg editor. The course is great for all levels of users wanting to get their feets wet and start learning how to use Gutenberg inside of WordPress. John (as always) does a superb job of covering the topic content with enough depth and breadth to let you get in there and make something useful. Thanks John!”

3 Comments on “WordPress Gutenberg is AWFUL compared to the classic editor”

I just switched over to Gutenberg but I do not see how I can link the publishing of a new blog post to Twitter, LinkedIn & FB – do you know how that’s done? It was easy on the classic editor, it was in a box down the right hand side of the screen. Where is that function now?

J Carter

February 20, 2019 at 12:05 pm

Yeah, going to have to disagree with you on just about everything you wrote. Gutenberg is WAY harder to use, brings nothing to the table, and is clunky as hell. And no, I won’t be using Gutenberg soon enough.

What’s way harder to use? Don’t see that. There’s a bunch of new blocks you’d have needed plugins and their shortcodes for… just built into the editor now. Reusable blocks, alone, is worth the switch. And, yes you will. You’ll see.